Life in Color
by Vongola Princessa
Summary: They say until you meet your soul mate, you live in a world of black, white, and shades in between. What they didn't know was that Ino lived a life in color since day one. [ShikaIno, mentions of others]


**Life in Color**

They say until you meet your soul mate, you live in a world of black, white, and shades in between. What they didn't know was that Ino lived a life in color since day one. [ShikaIno]

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 **Age: Zero**

It was September 22 when a heaving Yoshino cradled her baby boy, drinking in the dark tuft of hair and pink, wrinkled skin. Despite breaking every bone in Shikaku's finger giving birth, Yoshino couldn't help but love the man even more for helping her bring the baby to life and giving her the sight to see the his reddening cheeks and purpling veins.

Nara Shikamaru would open his eyes to a black and white world.

The next day, Yamanaka Ino took her first breath of air and Inoichi cradled her as if she was a precious gem, fragile to even the slightest of breezes. And as she was placed in a cradle side by side a babe merely one day older than her, her sight was flooded with colors.

 **Age: Five**

Ino began to learn how to identify what color things were supposed to have. An apple could be red, green, or yellow. But what did those colors mean? Her five-year-old self couldn't wrap her mind around the sun being yellow and the grass being green because she was told until she met her soul mate, things were in shades of grey.

If the sky was supposed to be grey, how was she supposed to know it was actually blue? What made blue, blue?

Dizzy with her thoughts, Ino fell back onto the warm grass of her backyard. Her mama chuckled gently and Ino rolled on her stomach facing her mama.

"How is it I can only see three colors? There seems to be more than that, mama," she whined, plucking a blade of grass, letting it twirl in her fingers.

Risa pulled her daughter onto her lap and cuddled Ino close to her chest. She brushed the dirt from Ino's blonde tresses and smiled softly as the young girl snuggled closer. "Well Ino-chan, those are called shades. You see this apple? Remember this shade of grey because it is red, like your heart. Red is the fire that dances in our blood, it is the color of love, passion, and sometimes, anger."

The young girl wrinkled her nose as she looked at the apple and it's so called shade of grey that meant red. "Passion? Anger? Love, like my heart to yours and papa's?" These foreign words meant nothing to Ino but she knew love, she knew a lot about love.

Love was mommy and daddy, sometimes love was Shikamaru and most of the time love was Chouji. Love was flowers and sunshine and warm hugs. Love was when daddy kissed her forehead before bed and mommy tucked her in.

"Anger?" Risa rested her chin over Ino's head, "Let's see, anger is when Shikamaru doesn't want to play with you, it's when papa says no to dress up time."

Ino tilted her head up, crystal clear eyes gleaming, "Like when mama yells at papa for drinking with Uncle Shikaku and Uncle Chouza?"

The tinkling laughter of her mama filled the air, "Aren't you my little smartie pants?"

"What about passion?" Ino prompted, curious at how an apple meant both love and anger, yet also passion at the same time.

Risa tapped Ino's button nose and grinned when the young girl pouted. "Passion means many different things, you are much too young to learn! Your papa will certainly be angry with me if I got these ideas in your head so early."

"But mama—" Ino groaned, extending the last syllables.

"Okay, okay, how about this: passion is a strong feeling, sometimes for love, sometimes for anger."

Ino wrinkled her nose again; that's what passion meant and mama didn't think she was old enough to learn it yet?

 **Age: Eight**

Shikamaru knew a long time ago something didn't make sense about soul mates. Though only eight, he was a genius in his own right and couldn't imagine being stuck with one person for eternity (some part of him did enjoy this idea, that meant somewhere in the world someone would have to love him unconditionally and stay by his side no matter what). How did people know they had soul mates? How did they know they lived life in grey scales?

Some say it is the compatibility of chakra—yet medic nins constantly used their chakra on fellow ninjas and citizens.

Some say it was destiny at work, but he believed in forging his own path and life.

Some say it was religious, that God's hand gave them one person to love, he wasn't sure he believed this either because he loved his mom and his dad, that was already two people.

With different theories floating around, Shikamaru knew he shouldn't take any idea for face value.

Shikamaru knew a long time ago something didn't make sense about soul mates. When he picked up and pointed out colors with ease, he was lauded as a genius for memorizing the shades of black and white and its assigned color. But as he squinted at what was supposed to be a black shirt, it was obviously a dark color compared to the white shirt in his other hand. Then glancing down at his olive pants, he knew that it didn't match any shades of grey he had seen, in fact it seemed like olive was its own color. Maybe a shade of green for it certainly did not look black or white to him.

How troublesome, he thought, watching the clearly white, fluffy clouds move gently in the wind. The light blue sky reminded him of Ino's eyes, though he supposed that troublesome girl wouldn't even be able to tell the difference in shades.

"Blue," he remember his mother's soothing voice, "is calm and peaceful, like the still sky and rippling waters."

"Like Ino's eyes," he mumbled dryly.

His mother's lip quirked slightly, "Oh?"

Shikamaru hadn't replied to his mother's teasing tone. At eight years old, while he didn't understand soul mates, he understood a lot about Ino and with his limited knowledge on soul mates and extensive knowledge on Ino, it just wasn't meant to be.

 **Age: Twelve**

…And it wasn't (meant to be).

Shikamaru would never admit it to anyone but himself, but he thinks he's in love with Ino. His mother never taught him sunshine was Ino's golden hair. Or welcoming skies were Ino's eyes. Or sweet peonies being Ino's blush.

The shades of grey meant too much for him to care about someone else. It would mean losing her and the color she brought him. A part of him broke: for he would never see color until he met his soul mate and he supposed it would never be Ino.

He wondered if he would ever love someone the way he did her.

But he was twelve and that was that. Though his genius mind doubted his love for her, his heart knew better, and somehow that pesky blonde managed to wedge her way into his heart.

"Shika—are you even listening to me?" her bossy voice was high pitched and accusing, he winced at the soprano tone. She flipped her glossy ponytail and he vaguely mused how this shade of grey could still seem so bright and full of light.

Ino rolled her eyes and sighed. "I said, our sensei is already here, so wake up and let's go."

"How troublesome," was all he replied.

 **Age: Fifteen**

Ino knew she had already met her soul mate.

She knew that while they were her soul mate, she wasn't theirs.

She knew that she had cried for hours when she realized she was able to see colors.

She knew that she was angry, because her soul mate should have noticed they could see color when they saw her.

She knew that her soul mate didn't love her.

She knew she was deeply, irrevocably, in love with Shikamaru, but he was not her soul mate.

But what she knew most of all, was that she couldn't recall ever living in a world of black and white.

She was convinced, growing up, that she had lived in a grey scale world along with everyone else who had yet to find their soul mate, for she was always far too young to have even met her soul mate yet, what were the chances? And so, she was told, despite her odd ability to recall colors like the back of her hand, no, that no one had yet to love her the way a soul mate would.

But when she remembers Sakura's tittering giggles of Naruto's hair and Hinata's stammering stutters of life exploding in color with Sasuke, Ino knew she had met her soul mate already.

Ino also knew those feelings fluttered with Shikamaru. How could she love him if he was not her soul mate? He would never reciprocate her feelings; though he did not admit it, she knew he had grown entertaining the idea of soul mates. One person in the world will love you unconditionally and eternally, and you will love them back just as much. It was romantic; it was also an easy way out of finding love for yourself, and Shikamaru was as lazy as it gets. Ino found herself hating it: she loved Shikamaru but he would never love her the same way.

She didn't know when, she didn't know how, she didn't know who, but Ino lived a life of color and she would be damned if anyone didn't think she was worth loving (even more damned if she loved Shikamaru more than her soul mate).

 **Age: Nineteen**

Shikamaru froze, the chopsticks falling resoundingly on the countertop of Ichiraku Ramen. Besides him, Naruto continued to eat without a care, not understanding the impact of his words on Shikamaru.

"Wh-what do you mean?" he swallowed, his gaze unwavering on the unaware blonde.

Naruto slurped the last bit of his bowl and wiped his mouth absentmindedly. "Sakura told me Ino told her that Ino has always been able to see color," shrugging, Naruto gestured to Teuchi for another bowl, "I dunno why she bothers going out with Genma now, he's like thousands of years older than her."

Ino could see color? Since when was she dating Genma? Questions and thoughts ran through Shikamaru's head as he attempted to unravel each of them one by one.

If Ino has always been able to see color, then she must of met her soul mate at a young age. But who wouldn't be quick to claim Ino as their soul mate? There was no doubt she was beautiful and intelligent, one of the best agents in the T&I Department since her father. Who wouldn't, couldn't, love her? Ino would be quick to claim her soul mate as well, being the possessive person he knew she was.

Unless she didn't know whom her soul mate was.

Doubt begin to rise in his throat, was Ino really able to see color all this time?

For the past nineteen years, Shikamaru lived in a world of black and white, and maybe, just maybe, Ino would still take him as hers if her soul mate didn't want her.

"I need to go—I need to see her, I have to see her."

Shikamaru jumped and ran down the familiar path to the Yamanaka household, ignoring Naruto's cries of paying the bill.

Panting and out of breath, he raised his hand to knock on the door, but froze once more. What was he supposed to say? Tell her he loved her and have her laugh in his face?

Before he could formulate his thoughts, the door swung open and he was met with familiar, azure crinkling eyes.

"Shika? What are you doing here?"

His childhood nickname slipped easily off her tongue and Shikamaru found himself lost for words.

"You can see?" he blurted out, mentally cursing himself at his lack of eloquency.

She raised a brow, "Yes, my eyes are perfectly functional?"

"I mean," he took a deep breath willing his beating heart to calm, "You can see color?"

Ino looked taken back as her lips shook and her hand gripped the doorknob. "Why do you ask?"

He swallowed, "How long have you been able to see color?"

"Why does it matter," she asked again. Her voice was shaking, vulnerable, nothing like the Ino he grew up knowing.

It was now or never.

"Because," he began slowly, "I think I have always loved you, but," he admitted, continuing despite her gasp, "I don't think I can see color… I have loved you for as long as I have remembered but I'm sorry, so, so, sorry, I can't see you for you. For your apparently sunshine hair and bright eyes. For your peony cheeks and rosy lips. For your milky skin and golden freckles. I'm sorry."

"Oh." Her voice was quiet and her eyes wide. Tears began to build up and worry began to shake in Shikamaru.

"Is it okay," she whispered, "If I am too troublesome? Is it okay that I have loved you since the beginning?"

He stepped closer upon her admission. "Only if it's okay that I can't see color."

She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't worry, I'm a good teacher."

 **Age: Twenty-One**

Love, Ino taught Shikamaru, was the color of her blood crying for him. It was the passion and desire that danced in her blood, dreaming, wishing, for Shikamaru to take her. Love was red.

But love was also yellow, like the strands of her hair perpetually stuck on every piece of clothing he ever owned. As troublesome as it was to find her hair through the threads of his fishnet, it was like finding a piece of sunshine, a piece of her. Love was the happiness of her.

Ino taught Shikamaru all the colors of love: green was the grass they lay side by side, watching the clouds roll by and the stars rise. Blue was her determined eyes and the tranquil skies. Purple was her pride and devotion to him, like lovely little wisteria surviving hundreds of years.

Ino taught Shikamaru all she knew about colors and love, for since the day they first laid eyes on each other, their lives exploded in color, no matter how troublesome it was.

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okay first of all, i am so sorry if there are any typos or grammar mistakes or errors bc i literally wrote this all in one go and wanted to post it immediately ! i always toyed aroudn with the idea of soul mates and recently have been super in love with shikamaru/ino ship and wanted to take a go at the naruto fandom? i know this is super ooc but i tried to fit it with my story WHO KNOWS?

(also like i know babies dont open their eyes right away but for the sake of the story, forget about that!)

in other news: if you keep up with my KHR story this is for you  
I'M SO SORRY okay for the longest time I didn't have wifi so I literally couldn't even read fanfiction unless i used my data on my phone, so I didn't really... write (oops). My goal is to finish AGS and i am definitely trying my hardest to complete the next chapter but like... SHIKA AND INO ARE SO CUTE SOS

anyways, feel free to drop a review it's literally 4 in the morning where i am and i hate myself so :~)


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